The legendary fighters from the King of
Iron Fist Tournament return to the console world with Tekken 6
arriving on not just the PlayStation 3 but also the XBox 360.
How's that for service?
Boasting around 40 fighters, Tekken 6 definitely offers the gamer a
wealth of gaming options from campaigns to traditional fighting
modes. The best part
of Tekken is that even a novice gamer can pick up the DualShock
controller and start playing, however Namco have carefully added a
variety of new combinations, ensuring something for veteran gamers
to strive for. After an impressive prerendered cinematic when I
first put the disc in, Tekken 6
basically throws the player into the menu system which gives you the option of engaging in the campaign mode or kicking some ass in one of the
many fighting modes.

Features

Gorgeous Graphics: The advanced
high-definition graphics and 3D animation technologies create
the most impressive HD visuals in Tekken history.

The Largest Character Roster Ever:
Master 40 unique fighters representing the world's top martial
arts styles! The character line-up includes 34 beloved
characters, such as Jin, Heihachi and Kazuya, as well as 6 brand
new characters with unique fighting styles and combo systems!

Compete and Battle Globally: Prove
your supremacy against players from around the world with Online
VS Mode!

Endless Possibilities to Customise:
Create new characters and customise them with every imaginable
detail. Customise their hairstyles, apparel, fashion
accessories, tattoos, etc. Then take your own ultimate fighters
online!

Dynamic, Interactive, Destructible
Environments: Punch your enemies through concrete walls or kick
them through floors to open a whole new battleground. The stages
go through dynamic changes ranging from a sudden attack
helicopter crash to vehicle explosions!

THE BAD

New comers to the fighting genre or the world of Tekken can also
engage in the training mode which assists in teaching the player how
to move their characters and also pull off those impressive yet for
most, unachievable multi button combos. The first aspect of Tekken 6
that I tried was the campaign mode which began with an extremely
long and convoluted history of the various Tekken games through a
rather disappointing cinematic that were basically animated still
pictures and poorly at that.

When I play Tekken, I expect to see
those larger than life cinemas, like the introduction, not still
pictures with a few animations or flashing colours. The unfortunate
aspect of the campaign mode is that the story is quite boring and
once again revolves around an endless war with scientists and
robots. With that said, the story of Tekken 6 focuses around Jin Kazama, the new leader of Mishima Zaibatsu
who attempted
to right the wrongs of his father and grandfather, however has inevitably
joined their dark road and has bigger delusions of grandeur such as
ruling the entire world. Clichéd and really bad story telling!

To compound the situation, the campaign
mode looks like something out of the 90's from its Spartan like
graphics to the limited way the characters move. Unlike the
traditional Tekken fighting mode which is side-on view with 3D
characters, the campaign mode is a third person view from afar as
you and your co-fighter beat an unending hoard of thugs. The
unfortunate aspect of this mode is that it is quite sluggish and
feels like an afterthought to the main fighting experience of
Tekken. The only good thing about the campaign mode is that you will
learn about all the other Tekken characters. To compound the
situation, you need to complete the campaign mode to be awarded
cutscenes and costumes and the like but boy is it difficult to play
through... yawn!

THE GOOD

Thankfully after the mediocre campaign mode, Tekken has one saving
grace... the fighting and the arcade mode! Apart from around
40 characters that includes old favourites like Nina and King, it
even contains some new character such as Bob, an overweight American
fighter or Zafina who is quite surreal in her fighting methods that
almost makes her quite ethereal when she fights. This is what about
Tekken is about, beating the absolute living daylights out of your
enemies and some truly fun and sometimes frustrating boss
characters, even one who looks like it has been taken directly from
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla!

Although the game can become a button
masher, by putting in the time and effort, the game does transcend
to another level and with the correct amount defense and offence, it can
be quite a tactical and strategic fighter as you block, kick and
throw your opponents to the ground. You can also link combos
together to deliver some powerful attacks and any who has played
this game on the PS2 will be straight at home as soon as the
DualShock controller is put into your hands. The buttons are well
mapped on the controller with certain buttons used for leg,
feet, arm and hand attacks.

Another cool aspect of Tekken is that
just about all the characters feel different when you play and each
has their pros and cons plus some devastating and visually
impressive combo attacks. Although the learning curve of the game is
relatively low, trying the master all the maneuvers will take some
time to master, especially as you attempt to link your combos. And
if you can master, nothing is more entertaining than to incapacitate
your foes while they are in the air because it allows you to get in
a few extra attacks in while they are stunned.

Another interesting
addition to the gameplay is RAGE and when you're health gets to a
certain point, your character becomes surrounded in a red glow that
increases the damage they do and really gets the adrenaline pumping
in a Rocky Balbo way. Friggin fun!

In relation to gameplay, players can play the traditional arcade
mode which allows for 5 levels of difficulty, Ghost Battle which
allows you to fight characters who moves are based on real-world
players and really adds something uniquely different and sometimes
difficult to the game. Apart from Ghost Battle, you also have
Survival, Time Attack, VS Battle, Team Battle and of course
Practice.

In regards
to AI, the AI is quite easy to defeat early on in the game and on
the early levels, it does become more and
more of challenge and they do mimic real-world players quite well.
You can also play the game online which can become a little
challenging depending on lag and speaking of wait times, the loading
of Tekken 6 is quite horrendous.

Graphically, the title looks seriously like eye candy in the fighting
modes with extremely detailed characters and some brilliant texture
details. Add in some great looking backgrounds and even the
occasional special effect and realistic lighting and you have one
good looking game. Unfortunately the fighting is let down by the
mediocre graphics of the campaign mode that look like it has been
taken out of a bad 90's video game.

Personally, the campaign mode
does let down the main fighting and I believe it would have been
better as a downloadable game. In terms of movement, the characters
all move quite differently, whether its Zafina with her eerie,
almost undead movement or the Bob, the overweight American who does
have quite a bit of speed available, it all assists in the
immersion. The soundtrack is decent and the voice acting is oozing
with Japanese over the top character acting that suits the franchise
perfectly.

At the end of the day, Tekken 6 is definitely a fun fighter, however
it is plagued by some gameplay issues, more specifically the
horrendous campaign mode and programming issues such as lengthy
loading times. The strange thing is that the fighting is pure
adrenaline pumping fun and with 40 characters to choose from, the
gameplay of the fighting is very sturdy and deliciously addictive as
you kick some serious ass! Plus, you can't beat the perfect control
system of the arcade mode... Tekken is finally here on the next-gen
of consoles!